There has been a lot of media coverage saying that bees are in trouble. We should unpick that a bit … honeybees are just one of hundreds of species of bee found in the UK. Honeybees have beekeepers to look after them, and in fact numbers are not declining, but for the others – that’s bumble bees and solitary bees the situation is not so good. So here are some things you could do to help bees and other pollinators.
Stop mowing your lawn
“No-mow-May” is a great way to get started, but why leave it there? If a lawn is not mown, wildflower species will be able to flower – and bees love those. In summer clover is a favourite, and in spring bees will enjoy dandelions.
Leave a wild corner
Gardeners love to have everything neat and tidy, but bees and other pollinators will be even more happy with a wild corner of the garden, brambles are very useful for bees, and butterflies will love stinging nettles and buddleia.
Choose the right plants
Cultivated varieties of flowers are sometimes bred for maximum show, but this is done by turning the useful parts into more petals. Such “double” flowers look good but are of little use to pollinators. Choose single flowers, and look out for the RHS Plants for Pollinators scheme.
Avoid chemicals
The ways in which chemicals affect pollinators are only starting to be fully understood. Even small amounts of insecticide used to treat crops can harm bees, and even glyphosate is now shown to reduce bees’ ability to learn. Try non chemical controls instead.
Don’t turn your front garden into a tarmac dessert
Not just the pollinators, but all wildlife needs a place to live. If you need to park cars, try porous surfaces rather than concrete or tarmac.
Support a beekeeper!
I had to mention this one … find your local beekeeper and buy some of their honey. There is a reason supermarket honey is cheap – it turns out a lot of it isn’t even honey at all. Also, importing honey spreads disease which can affect our bees.